Fiorella and Georgette

Unable to sleep last night because of too much chocolate-on-chocolate Father's Day cake, Fiorella  curled up on the couch in the den with a well-worn copy of Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer, the mother of the historical romance genre. Fio became acquainted with Heyer years ago when she finished her first semester finals at University of Texas and wandered into the college bookstore to find a paperback novel to relax with. These Old Shades, Fio's initial venture into the Regency world created by Heyer, fit the bill and was soon followed by its sequel, Devil's Cub.  From then on, Fio was addicted.. She loved the characters, the humor, the plots, and  the British settings.

But now, reading the books as an author, she marvels at their craftsmanship--the subtlety with which Heyer introduces her characters, the way she makes period information seem natural, her skill in keeping the story moving--and Fio hopes she can do the same even half as well..

Retread

Maybe eternal life consists of innumerable variations of each person's life.  Maybe we are all reborn as before, but with different opportunities, and we make different choices.  Maybe Fiorella's parents would have stayed in Ohio rather than move to Texas.  Maybe she would have chosen to attend Rice rather than University of Texas, or maybe she would have stayed in Waco and gone to Baylor, despite required attendance at Baptist chapel.  Maybe her art career would have taken off and she would never have tried her hand at writing novels.  Maybe she would have learned Spanish or some other language well enough to really use it.    The maybe's are endless--thus, eternal life.